{"id":7329,"date":"2021-01-16T11:48:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T18:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=7329"},"modified":"2021-01-16T11:48:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T18:48:42","slug":"the-black-madonna-by-alex-charns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=7329","title":{"rendered":"The Black Madonna by Alex Charns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7330\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?attachment_id=7330\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/black-madona.jpg?fit=314%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"314,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"black-madona\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/black-madona.jpg?fit=314%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/black-madona.jpg?resize=199%2C317&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7330\" width=\"199\" height=\"317\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Outrageously entertaining\u2026 A total page-turner.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Devious power plays, corrupt bureaucratic system, and hidden alliances set readers\u2019 pulse racing in Charns\u2019s hard-edged, smart satiric latest featuring the endearing pair of law partners Zenko and Star. \u00a0It\u2019s just another day for the five months pregnant Malinda Queen, a Black health care professional, until her path crosses with three white members of the Durham CATT drug unit who are in the area after receiving a call about open-air drug sale. Without warning, Malinda finds herself manhandled and dragged to jail as her five-month-old fetus dies in her womb from excessive force trauma. The case lands on Gwaiazada and Luczek\u2019s desk, the only firm in the town that takes on cases of police brutality, led by the gutsy pair of Tadeuz Rzenkowski \u201cZenko\u201d Luczek and Star, katazina Gold Hwiazda. With the whole Durham city police and administration hand in gloves, getting justice for Malinda is not that easy for Zenko and Star. \u00a0Charns fills this gritty, raw legal thriller with palpable tension, high-stakes drama, individual struggles, old secrets, and longing of love. Zenko and Star\u2019s endearing bond, with the duo finally able to build a relationship of trust and co-dependence after their high-school breakup is addictive, keeping the reader turning pages fast. While Star\u2019s stubbornness keeps them apart (romantically) and family circumstances challenge their relationship, Zenko\u2019s unwavering romantic devotion and relentless longing for Star is enough to keep readers hopeful for the pair\u2019s union in the upcoming books. Zenko and Star\u2019s tender bond with Malinda is beyond the realms of an average attorney-client relationship and is both honest and wholly genuine. There are lessons about choices, control, and priorities, and readers will enjoy seeing Malinda finally coming to terms with her grief as her scars and fears lead her to strength and courage. Charns beautifully conveys Zenko\u2019s struggle as long-hidden secrets of his family\u2019s past invades his present. The sections with the first-person narrative from Mark J. Luczek, Zenko\u2019s grandfather make for the case where the reader can draw their own interpretation about the former\u2019s actual guilt. Inspired by a true story of police brutality and corruption in the Bull City, this skillfully crafted story is a treat for lovers of literary fiction. By turns lighthearted and horrific, the novel ensnares the reader from the first page and wouldn\u2019t let go until they have read the whole book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Black Madonna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Alex Charns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Black-Madonna-Alex-Charns-ebook\/dp\/B08QBSX76Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bull City Law Publishing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pub date December 9, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ASIN B08QBSX76Y<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Price $1.00 (USD) Kindle edition, $6.00 Paperback<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outrageously entertaining\u2026 A total page-turner. Devious power plays, corrupt bureaucratic system, and hidden alliances set readers\u2019 pulse racing in Charns\u2019s hard-edged, smart satiric latest featuring the endearing pair of law partners Zenko and Star. \u00a0It\u2019s just another day for the five months pregnant Malinda Queen, a Black health care professional, until her path crosses with three white members of the Durham CATT drug unit who are in the area after receiving a call about open-air [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":7330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[580465],"tags":[38100332,24777292,7223,726,7215,3328,178,8053601,1136176,62857929,1473,66361,349],"class_list":["post-7329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-thrillers","tag-amreading","tag-amwriting","tag-author","tag-authors","tag-book-review","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-indie-author","tag-indie-books","tag-indiebooks","tag-reading","tag-thrillers","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/black-madona.jpg?fit=314%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-1Ud","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7329"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7333,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7329\/revisions\/7333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}